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Leyton Orient move to Eton Manor is still a possibility it is claimed

September 13 - Shaun Dawson, the chief executive of the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, has told the London Assembly that there is still a possibility Leyton Orient could move to Eton Manor following the conclusion of the London 2012 Games.

The League One club, along with Tottenham Hotspur, have been granted a judicial review into the decision by the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) to award the Olympic Stadium to West Ham as Orient chairman Barry Hearn believes the Championship outfit's move to the nearby venue could cost his club up to £1.5 million ($2.4 million/€1.7 million) a year.

The judicial review is due to take place on October 18 with Orient hopeful they can overturn the OPLC's decision.

But Eton Manor, which is located in the North of the Olympic Park and set to stage wheelchair tennis during the Paralympics, will be operated by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority after London 2012 and Dawson says they have been approached by Orient about the possibility of moving into the area.

"We are aware of Leyton Orient's possible interest in building a 15,000 seat stadium at Eton Manor," Dawson said.

"As the landowner and operator we have a number of concerns with this concept.

"We have a strong legacy plan for Eton Manor already in place so our first concern is the potential loss of around £30 million [$47 million/€35 million] of investment in hockey and tennis facilities.

"These legacy commitments cannot be compromised.

"The second is about sporting activity and participation. "In terms of Olympic Legacy there is a question to ask about whether the focus for the Eton Manor site should be on sports participation - people using the facilities on a daily basis, from amateur to elite - or whether it should be on professional and spectator sport - thousands of people watching 22 professionals once every two weeks.

"I can also see some significant practical issues around the programming of hockey and tennis requirements alongside those of football clubs.

"Not to mention the logistical issues that could arise if there are two football clubs this close in the Park, from fixture management to crowd control.

"Leyton Orient presented their ambitions to us three months ago and we let them know that we would be glad to see a credible proposal in terms of a business model and financial plan.

"So to use a sporting metaphor here, the ball is in their court to work up their ideas for further consideration whilst taking into account all of the outlined concerns."

The judicial review set to take place next month could prevent London bidding to host the 2017 World Athletics Championships but if the OPLC decision to award West Ham the Olympic Stadium is upheld Eton Manor would be a hugely attractive second prize for Orient.

Baroness Margaret Ford, the chair of the OPLC, had told the London Assembly earlier this year that Orient moving to the Olympic Park was "inconceivable" but Duncan Innes, the executive director of real estate at the OPLC who was also speaking to the London Assembly today, clarified the comments made by Baroness Ford saying that she was referring to the area of Eton Manor that features the hockey stadium.

Timeline

About the author

Emily Goddard is a subeditor and reporter for insidethegames.biz. She has broken a number of exclusives including that News International had lost their exclusive deal with London 2012 following the phone-hacking scandal that rocked Britain in 2011, Richard Caborn's future as chairman of the Amateur Boxing Association of England was in danger, and she was also the journalist to report the first comments from the IOC following the Russian anti-gay legislation.

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Fact of the day

At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Iranian judoka Arash Miresmaeili was disqualified for weighing in at nearly four pounds above the limit for his weight class of his under-66 kilograms match against an Israeli opponent Ehud Vaks in the first round. It was claimed Miresmaeili had gone on an eating binge to protest the International Olympic Committee's recognition of the state of Israel. Iran does not recognise the state of Israel, and Miresmaeili's actions won praise from high-ranking Iranian officials. Mohammad Khatami, the country's President at the time, was quoted as saying Miresmaili's actions would be "recorded in the history of Iranian glories". He was later awarded $125,000 by the Government - the same amount given to Olympic gold medallists.

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